Miyazaki Takachiho Japanese Oolong

RARE, RARE… NEVER BEFORE ON CANADIAN TEA MARKET

Exclusively from Tealux

JAPANESE OOLONG TEA

A truly remarkable kamairi-style Japanese oolong tea grown organically in very limited amounts in Miyazaki on Kyushu Island, one of the traditional pan-firing tea producing areas of Japan.

Only limited amounts of this choice tea was produced during the first Spring harvest with an extreme amount of care and attention to quality. Two very specific varietals of Japanese tea bushes, known as Takachiho and Minami Sayaka, were harvested to make this oolong, both of which are very suitable for the production of oolong tea.

It’s a lightly oxidized oolong that has also been pan-fired lightly. The curly leaf therefore maintains much of its green appearance, the liquor is a strong yellow, and the taste retains much of it’s fresh lively appeal without any roasted notes.

The most notable and amazing aspect of this oolong is its extraordinary floral fragrance which is incredibly gardenia-like (Kuchinashi in Japanese), hence the name of this Japanese oolong tea is Kuchinashi! If you are familiar with fragrances of flowers such as gardenia you’ll not fail to notice the resemblance. The fragrance is accompanied by a wonderful fragrant taste that spreads gently throughout the mouth!

Origin: Gokase Town, Miyazaki, Kyushu, Japan

Harvest: Late May 2011

Organic Certification: JAS

1 Tasting Note

Kittenna

Another new tea! One I’ve been wanting to try for a while. A Japanese oolong… intriguing!

So I really had no idea what to expect with this tea. Some sort of oolongy flavour, obviously, but that’s about it. However, this tea is absolutely delicious. The aroma is light and sweet, and so is the flavour. Lightly caramelly, a bit oolongy… enough that I would probably describe it as an oolong in a blind taste test, anyway. No astringency whatsoever, just very smooth. It’s also not particularly floral.

What’s bugging me the most about this tea is that it seems quite familiar, but I have no idea what it’s reminding me of. My best guess, based honestly entirely on memory, is that it’s like Butiki’s Sparrow Tongue Oolong. I suppose the best way to test out that theory would be to make Sil try a cup of it :D Anyways, this is pretty freaking tasty, and I’m very happy to have at least a few more cups left in this sample packet. Indigobloom – I think you picked some of this up too, and I’m kind of glad we didn’t split a packet! More for me!

Additional infusions to come :)

ETA: Second infusion, with the same parameters, is pretty good, but doesn’t beat the first. A bit more tea flavour, perhaps, but some of the delicious sweetness is gone.

2013-05-12 00:18:33 -0400

195 °F / 90 °C

3 min 0 sec

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